Rear wheel alignment after chain tighten?

So I changed the oil the other day. Very happy with the motul semi-synth I used and the oem filter. While doing this I also adjusted the chain tightness back to spec. But while doing this noticed that the two sides of my rear swingarm are not the same and therefore I did the 1/4 turn each side until tight method on the adjusters. Is there any way I can check to make sure my rear wheel is square in the swingarm? Any tips?

Measure from the centerline of the axle bolt the centerline of the swingarm pivot. It should be the same on both sides.

Fred

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You could get you one of these.

Clarke Precision Tool 6 in. Digital Vernier Caliper - Model CMT 103 at Sears.com

I've been wanting one. Every toolbox needs one anyway.

Fred said:

Measure from the centerline of the axle bolt the centerline of the swingarm pivot. It should be the same on both sides.

Fred

Click to expand...

Plus 1 quick and easy way for me.

I'm curious if the following Motion Pro Chain Alignment Tool could work. I'm really not sure if having the rear sprocket aligned with the front sprocket would ensure the wheel is aligned? :don'tknow:

I suppose there are too many variables that could throw an alignment using this tool (damaged sprocket, bent frame/swing arm etc.).

Assuming that there is no frame damage, then either the Motion pro tool or the rechnique I mentioned will do just fine.

Sportryder's method is the most accurate, because it compensates for any twists in the frame or swingarm.

dark_isz said:

I usually eyeball it. I get on the ground a behind the rear wheel and spin the rear wheel checking the position of the chain on the sprocket. With a correctly aligned rear wheel, the sprocket teeth should stay in the middle of the chain openings. When the rear wheel is out of line, the teeth will be towards one side or another. Once I have eyeballed it, I go for a short ride to verify there's nothing unusual.

A more precise method for checking the rear wheel alignment is available at this link from an FZ-1 forum member.

SportRyder's Wheel Alignment Method

Click to expand...

I have a question for you... I just tightened and aligned my chain and wheel...

I tried your method of actually looking from behind the bike, spinning the wheel to see if the chain is in the middle of the sprocket. Its a little to the right... but my right side marks are already a tad bit father than the left side marks... is this ok?

After adjust my chain for the first time on the FZ I must admit, Yamaha did not use their heads at all on that design.

It has got to be the worst thing ever. Everyone other bike I have ever delt with is like the FZ1 in that previous post where there is cut away in the swingarm for sliders that the axle goes through. You can see the last tic mark which gives you a reference. With ours there is no reference. You can not see how many tics back you are on each side, which made it rather challeging to make sure I was straight. It would be very easy to get the the chain 2 maybe 3 tics off...

I am going to measure from the center of the axle to the swing arm piviot next time. Its about the only way to really tell.

-bryan

bmccrary said:

After adjust my chain for the first time on the FZ I must admit, Yamaha did not use their heads at all on that design.

It has got to be the worst thing ever. Everyone other bike I have ever delt with is like the FZ1 in that previous post where there is cut away in the swingarm for sliders that the axle goes through. You can see the last tic mark which gives you a reference. With ours there is no reference. You can not see how many tics back you are on each side, which made it rather challeging to make sure I was straight. It would be very easy to get the the chain 2 maybe 3 tics off...

I am going to measure from the center of the axle to the swing arm piviot next time. Its about the only way to really tell.

-bryan

Click to expand...

The '07-'08 model has a different adjustment system and does have tick marks, so you only need to be sure you've got each side to the proper tick then tighten only one nut for the axel since the other side is now in a locked block and needs no wrench/socket. :thumbup: Yamaha did something right with the new model/swingarm! :steve:

So is it ok that the right alignment marks are just a hair off from the left?

mglowe said:

I'm curious if the following Motion Pro Chain Alignment Tool could work. I'm really not sure if having the rear sprocket aligned with the front sprocket would ensure the wheel is aligned? :don'tknow:

I suppose there are too many variables that could throw an alignment using this tool (damaged sprocket, bent frame/swing arm etc.).

Click to expand...

I have been using this Motion Pro tool for a few years with good results. Just take off the back 2 bolts of the chain cover, pull it out of the way, put the Alignment Tool on the sprocket pointing straight down the chain to check adjustment. Pretty easy.

Yup. Think of the marks as a quick reference. They're not perfectly accurate, but they're handy if you need to pull the wheel and put it back on again but don't have a better alignment method handy.

This can happen if you get a flat or break a chain while on the road.

So yeah, the marks are handy, but don't consider them to be precision tools.

Having gone through this same question and not being satisfied with any of the conventional methods this is how I align my rear wheel and it works like a charm.

I find a flat road with little or no crown, reduce speed to about 25mph and very slowly loosen hand pressure on the handlebars. If the back wheel is in alignment the bike should track straight with no hand pressure on the handlebars. If the bike starts to drift to one side or the other the rear tire is misaligned.

To align the wheel tighten or loosen only the right adjusting nut(opposite the chain) on the swingarm otherwise the chain tension will be affected. If the bike drifts left it means the right adjusting screw should be loosened. If it drifts left it should be tightened. This goes without saying that the axel bolt also needs to be loosened.

The amount of adjustment I start out with depends on how much drift the bike has. Whatever the amount of adjustment you start with make the same number of turns (¼, ½, 1, 2 etc.) until either the bike tracks straight or it drifts in the opposite direction. When it drifts in the opposite direction reduce the adjustment amount by ½ and continue until the wheel is straight or it drifts in the other direction. Continue to reduce the adjustment by ½ until the wheel tracks straight.

I know this sounds like a lot of work and more complicated than it really is but once the rear wheel is truly aligned you won’t believe how much better your bike will handle and your rear tire will last much longer without the dreaded flat spot.

Hello rvbiker,

Your wheel alignment method is sounds good but can you please define this line again? " If the bike drifts left it means the right adjusting screw should be loosened. If it drifts left it should be tightened. " its is not clear to me. If the bike drifts left then what to do? loosen the right adjusting screw or tighten the right adjusting screw? will be wait for your feedback.

I'm BUMPing this thread because I'm in the middle of doing the alignment described by rvbiker. I believe the "rules" are the if it drifts LEFT the bolt should be loosened, and if it drifts RIGHT, the bolt should be tightened...but I'd like some affirmation on that.

My thought above is based on the countersteering phenomenom; if you turn your front wheel right, you move left, and vice versa.

All that being said, my bike was drifting slightly left, so I loosened the bolt twice, 1/4 turns each time, totaling 1/2. The drift to the left seems a bit less/better...not completely gone though, but now the alignment tick-marks are off and there is 1 threadcount difference between the right and left bolts that protrude past the bolts.

Anyone else find they need to align with that much difference...if I went further to try and completely fix the drift the delta between the two threadcounts and ticks would become even greater...does this seem right????

Just looking for some thoughts, thanks all in advance.